


The Viral Arrow

by AvecPardon



Series: Corruption of Minecraftia [2]
Category: Dream Team - Fandom
Genre: Avatars are separate from Players, Gen, Herobrine - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Realistic Minecraft, Short One Shot, but as viral files seeking a host, but share some qualities, but still a video game, events took place before 50 Prompts fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:55:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29628042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvecPardon/pseuds/AvecPardon
Summary: A shady mission and a diamond arrow sets off a chain reaction that forever changes Dream's life and the way of life in Minecraftia.
Series: Corruption of Minecraftia [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2174448
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	The Viral Arrow

**Author's Note:**

> tw: implied past sexual assault, implied past assault

A knock at the door had the scoutmaster lift his eyes from his paperwork and call out for the person to enter before going back to signing off another series of mission orders and stacking the shimmering books to one side of his desk. The door opened, then closed, and a scout with dirty blonde hair, dressed in a blue-gray hoodie, black pants, and the Sky Army cape of royal blue and gold stepped forward to stand before the scoutmaster's desk.

"Hello? I was called to report to you?" the scout greeted in a questioning tone. The scoutmaster quirked his lips up to a small smile that vanished as quickly as it came.

"Yes. You're.. Dream, correct?" he asked, opening a drawer of his desk and searching for the mission order he had set aside specifically for this Avatar.

"Yes, sir."

"The scouts have been given mission orders to patrol the other side of the Nether and report back on the conditions of the biomes since the new update altered the landscape dramatically," the scoutmaster told him and pulled the book out. "This one is for you." He held it out and waited for Dream to take it from him. "You're a Youtuber's Avatar, aren't you?" he asked casually, picking up his quill to go back to writing.

"Yes, sir. How.. uh, how did you know? My skin here doesn't match my upper server appearance and I don't advertise in the city," Dream's tone was cautious and the scoutmaster waved a hand to try and dismiss some of the tension.

"I've seen some Avatars look your way whenever you talk; it's a pretty good indicator of someone being the Avatar of a Youtube Player. They recognize your voice and direct their attention to you." He gave Dream a beguiling smile. "It's admirable. Depending on how you do on your missions, I could request you to have a promotion into a leadership role."

Dream's face turned pink as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Thank you, but I really like being on the field. It's good for my training," he replied, "Not that I'm not flattered and honored you'd like me in a higher rank, I am, thank you, but personally, for me, field work as a scout is, like, my happy place. It's the best fit for me, I feel."

"If you say so, but I have high hopes for you. You seem like quite the rising star," the scoutmaster told him and gestured towards the door. "I'll be expecting a report on your regions by the end of the week. Dismissed."

Dream gave him a salute, then headed out of the office. Once he was gone, the scoutmaster opened a chat window and began typing, grinning to himself.

_[You whisper to Kothra: The target is on his way. Orders were set up to have him alone and open for sniping.]_

__

__

_[Kothra whispers to you: And this target has potential to be accepted as a host?]_

_[You whisper to Kothra: I've been watching him. A high number of Avatars immediately focus on him any time he speaks. If not for their Sky Army training and his evasion skills, I'm sure they'd rush to follow him anywhere.]_

_[Kothra whispers to you: I see. An Avatar like that would give Lord Herobrine a substantial audience to manipulate and draw power from. Excellent work. You'll be rewarded when next we meet.]_

_[You whisper to Kothra: I'll be honored. Looking forward to seeing Herobrine rise once again.]_

The scoutmaster closed the screen with a smile and went back to work, signing paperwork as part of his duties in Sky Army.

\---

"Wait, what? They're sending you into the Nether alone to write stupid book reports on what it looks like now?" Sapnap asked incredulously, snatching the shimmering book from Dream's hand and holding it over his own head. He opened it to read, ignoring the dirty blonde jumping in place and trying to grab it back. "That's honking stupid. All those chunks to explore and they're making you do it alone? Cuz they're short on people?"

"Mm, that sounds pretty dangerous, Dream," George agreed from his place on a sofa, stretched out in relaxation after spending the morning working on the farms outside the house. He eyed the pouting blonde with concern. "Didn't you say that Sky Army was looking into that rash of Cultist snipers shooting people with diamond arrows? What if you run into one out there?"

Dream gave another jump to try and pull the book from Sapnap's hand and huffed when the ravenet flicked his hand to move to an empty spot in his hotbar. He shrugged and flopped back on another sofa, moving the cape aside so it wouldn't get caught under him. "Not gonna happen. We've been doing really good with Manhunt training and speedrun tactics. Pretty sure I can MLG out of the way of some dumbass Cultist," he retorted, confident grin on his face.

"Yeah, maybe in the old Nether, but you still bitch as much as Clay does about the new Nether," Sapnap pointed out flatly, flicking back to the book and reading it again. "Last time you ran through a cleared zone to get Blaze Rods, you got mowed down by Piglins cuz you stopped to mine gold on the way and didn't bother to check that they weren't watching you."

"You said you wouldn't bring that up!" Dream complained, lunging to get the book back from him.

"If it wasn't relevant. I think a honking stupid mission is relevant," the ravenet replied drily, gently bonking him on the head with the book.

"I don't like it. It doesn't feel right," George said, shifting uncomfortably on the sofa. "Maybe we should go with you this time."

"Oh come on, it's gonna be fine!" Dream told him with a laugh. He rubbed at his neck again, thinking back to the strange meeting with the scoutmaster and the crawling sensation over his skin he felt during their talk. It had been a while since he felt that, and it hadn't ended well for him when he tried to handle the situation alone. "If you guys really think that.. I dunno, like you think something's gonna go wrong, or something's just kinda busted about this, then I guess, yeah, yeah. You can come with me. It's a lot of ground to cover so we'll probably be in the Nether for a few days," he finally relented, smiling a little at Sapnap's satisfied expression and George perking up with interest.

"I'll make us some fire resistance potions," the brunet decided, hopping up to his feet. "I can stock up on more Blaze Rods and Magma Cream while we're there."

"We're doing a mission, not a shopping trip, but sure, okay," Sapnap called out with a huff of laughter as George headed for the staircase and headed down to the basement of the birch forest house. As soon as he was out of sight, the ravenet turned and focused his attention on the speedrunner. "Are you sure you're okay?" he whispered, "Anything else happen with that guy?"

Dream gave him a weak smile and shook his head. "Not the way you're thinking. He just asked if I was a Youtuber Avatar, like he was fishing for info on Clay," he replied quietly. "Creeped me out but I couldn't fully deny it. There's, like, tells or something for figuring that out, and he knew them. He gave me some praise, called me a 'rising star', really weird, and then let me leave."

"That's it?"

"That's it. I promise."

Sapnap squinted at him then gave him a firm nod. "Alright then," he went on at his normal volume, "I'll gather up some food to get us through a few days there, and we can get more from any hoglins we run across. You should make sure our gear's ready for Nether travel."

"Right, plan of action in place," Dream agreed and smiled fondly. "Thanks, for coming with me. To be honest, I really didn't want to be on this mission alone, not after getting weird vibes from the scoutmaster."

"Can't you report that to his boss or something? Raise a concern over how he acted towards you?" Sapnap asked, getting up to head to the kitchen and pack. Dream followed after him to grab a mug of his apple juice from the food stores.

"Eh, it's probably fine. He didn't touch me or anything, just him poking at me for info about Clay when I told Sky Army that asking about my Player was a major 'No' for me. No point raising a stink unless he tries anything first," he replied flippantly between sips of his drink. "Not gonna attack anyone, but I'll let him know that I didn't like him pushing at my boundaries once we get back and I turn in the report. That way he gets a clear warning to lay off and nobody gets canceled." Sapnap raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging and going back to sorting out food in the inventories of the various chests and barrels and refrigerators.

"I'll hold you to that. Go work on gear; I'll cook dinner once I have food set aside for our trip," he said, shooing the snickering blonde out of the kitchen.

\---

Heading into Sky Capital the next day, the trio of friends made small pauses for extra supplies in the various shops and open air market stalls on the way to the public Nether Portal. They had made a quick stop at Dream's apartment in the city to keep it paid up and pull any extra materials he had stored there. With inventories stocked, they made their way through the crowded city streets.

Despite Dream's claims of being alright, Sapnap noticed with a slight frown that the dirty blonde Avatar was suspiciously quiet, letting him or George do most of the talking and bargaining with the shopkeepers. He considered poking at him for answers until another familiar voice called out to them.

"Oh, hello, Dream, Sapnap, George!" BadBoyHalo called out happily, waving a hand from where he stood at a stall. The three of them waved back in greeting as the demonic Avatar carefully made his way over to them, weaving around people easily and offering soft apologies where he couldn't. "Fancy meeting you muffins here!" he went on once he joined the trio, walking with them as they continued on, "Doing some shopping in the city, too?"

"Yeah, we're just grabbing a few last things before we join Dream on his mission in the Nether," Sapnap replied, jerking a thumb towards Dream who grinned and nodded. "What about you? You don't usually show up in Sky Capital when it's this crowded."

"I needed some more Nether Quartz to remake a bunch of Skeppy's redstone stuff when a Creeper blew up near the mansion," Bad groaned softly. "So many observer blocks and comparators just poofed! And quartz is expensive right now so I haven't had much luck getting any."

"How about coming with us to the Nether?" George offered, walking backwards to face his friends with a grin. "We're gonna be spending a few days mapping out some chunks so you'll probably find a lot of quartz. I'm gonna be collecting brewing ingredients." Bad brightened at the idea.

"Oh, that'd be great! Is that okay, Dream? You don't usually invite us to go on your Sky Army missions with you," he asked, sidestepping another Avatar smoothly as they neared the public portal. A few Avatars were already heading in or out, some bearing the same royal blue cloak with golden pickaxe that the blonde wore.

"Yeah but this one seemed a little too big to do by myself so I figured having friends along won't be so bad," Dream replied off-handedly, flipping one hand to dismiss further questions. Some passersby turned their heads to look at him with surprised smiles as he pointed towards a distant tower of gold and quartz in the skyline. "Let's wait a few minutes. We're supposed to get an immunizing pulse about now and we could use the refresh before heading into the Nether."

Sapnap lifted a hand to shield his eyes as he squinted at the tower. "Right, cuz we dunno how much of the Nether still has Herobrine Virus infection in the chunks. You'd think we'd have figured out how to make some kind of virus detector or something, with all the mods and plugins Minecraftia absorbed into itself for us," he grumbled. The Avatars stopped walking and looked up at the tower with him, gathered around him to stay out of the way of still-moving crowds. Sapnap reached out without much thought, draping an arm across Dream and George's shoulders to both keep soothing physical contact with them for his own peace of mind and be a point of protection for them.

A flicker of light gleamed through the windows at the top of the tower, and Sapnap felt the tension in Dream's shoulders fade quickly. He ruffled the blonde's hair, smirking at the indignant shout as a more light-hearted mood settled over them. "Okay, looks like we got that refresh," he remarked and continued on to the portal, leading the team behind him. "Onwards to this stupid mission!"

\---

The first two days and nights passed relatively peacefully for the team. Dream darted all over a few chunks of the Nether in a tight cluster while Sapnap, George, and Bad spread out among them to both gather what they needed and keep an eye on him while he mapped out whatever data Sky Army was asking to collect. When they grew tired and in need of rest, Sapnap dug out a shelter in the Netherrack and sealed them all in, leaving a sign outside to warn other Avatars against digging near them. They slept on carpets or against one another, often with Sapnap leaning against a wall and pulling Dream and George to his sides for cuddles.

After that, things got.. strange.

None of them noticed at first. They had grown confident after nothing had happened to them outside the usual skirmishes with Piglins, skeletons, Ghasts, and Blazes. So when Dream wandered further away and disappeared from sight for short stretches of time, none of the other Avatars thought much of it, keeping touch with quick chat messages every hour or so.

"Why can't maps just work in the Nether?" Dream grumbled as he sketched out the landscape. "Would be done with this so much sooner if they did. Why can't we get a plugin that makes maps work? Gonna bug Clay to work on that next time he's free to chat with me."

A rustle. A crunch of vegetation.

Dream froze, quill scratching a stray line over the map. What was that? That didn't have the weight of a hoglin or Piglin. He held still, listening.

A soft step. Another rustle. Cloth on Netherrack.

He stood up, slowly, scanning the landscape carefully as he raised a hand to the gold clasp of his cape. Cultists wore red capes, which let them blend into the surroundings here, giving them the advantage in the Nether. Luckily all his time spent in Manhunt training and watching, -learning-, from Clay when his Player was logged into him and controlling him for recordings gave Dream an edge of his own in being able to better pick out hunters. If someone was stalking him, he'd be aware of it more than a normal Sky Army Scout.

Wait. What was that tell again? When he speaks, Avatars tend to turn to him? That means they'd move to focus on him.

"Oh, _George~_!" he called out, as if he was hunting the brunet.

A shift by a pile of Netherrack, as if out of excitement for the way he pitched his voice to carry that maniacal tone. Dream traced out a figure wrapped in a red cloak and hood, staring right at them in alarm. "Ah! Not fair!" a feminine voice yelled and pushed off from the pile, launching themselves surprisingly fast towards him as they lifted a crossbow to aim.

An arrow with a diamond tip pointed at him.

"Sapnap!" Dream yelled, bolting from his spot and running for the last place he remembered seeing the ravenet. He swerved around a Crimson tree, the whistle of an arrow flying by narrowly missing him.

Gaps and holes in the floor. Dream leaped over them, blocks in hand that he placed down behind himself. Soft thunks of arrows hit them, followed by the familiar _'vwip'_ of an Ender Pearl teleport.

"Sapnap! George!"

Faint lines of text scrolled up in a corner of his vision. The others heard his yells but needed his coordinates to find him. A drop up ahead, likely a cliff. One hand flicked open a screen as he switched focus to another corner of his vision, typing out numbers into the chat and sending it off. Just in time; the window automatically closed as Dream dropped over the cliff, hand slapping the clasp to release the cape.

"What?! Hey!" Sounds of flailing as the cape tangled with his pursuer and they yelled in frustration.

He placed a block under himself to reduce fall damage, wincing in pain from the jolt that shot up his ankle and knee at the impact. Another push off, run around several Zombie Piglins, arrows whistling by, narrow misses.

"Sapnap!"

He opened the chat screen again as he heard a distant _'vwip'_ sound off. Fresh coords were typed in and sent, the screen swept away as Dream looked over his shoulder to seek out where his impromptu hunter went.

There, higher up and running along floating slabs of Netherrack, the Cultist had the crossbow tracking him. What the _hell_?! How many diamond arrows did they have?!

He abruptly doubled back, throwing off the Cultist's aim as they missed another shot and cursed loudly.

In a corner of his field of view, the familiar figures of his friends appeared, running for him as fast as they could with shield and weapons at the ready. Dream let out a half-laugh, half-sob of relief, leaping over another shallow ravine towards them.

The whistle of an arrow.

A sharp, sudden pain in his back searing down his left arm.

A cry of agony erupting from his mouth as he fell into the ravine, the sound of a victory cheer following him from above.

_[Scanning for compatibility.....]_

_[Searching online for Avatar name: Dream.....]_

_[Sphere of Influence: Accepted.]_

_[Vocal Potential: Accepted.]_

_[Destructive Potential: Accepted.]_

_[Compatibility: Match.]_

_[Uploading Entity.Virus.Herobrine source code....]_

_[Upload complete.]_

"Dream! _Dream!_ We're coming for you! Hang on!" Sapnap's voice sounded muffled and distant, high above him, as Dream flinched, coming to after hitting the Netherrack ground. He lay half-curled on his side, and the pain had dulled to throbs that seemed to pulse through his whole body. Diamond blue light danced over him from where he could see, sparking over his skin.

Pebbles and dust suddenly cascaded down nearby as several figures jumped and slid down the sides of the ravine. A hand came down on the back of his neck and Dream screamed, the memory of another beguiling smile with blood streaming over it flashing in his mind's eye.

"Bad! Get your hand off! Shoulder, shoulder!" Sapnap shouted and the hand was removed hastily as the other Avatar babbled apologies in a panic. "It's okay, Bad, you didn't know. George, help me get him up. Where's the arrow? I thought I saw him get hit."

"Ow! What's this weird light? It's all over Dream.. some kind of status effect?" George asked, wincing as the sparks jumped and stung at his arms where he helped hold Dream up on his feet.

"We need to take him to a hospital; we didn't bring any milk with us!" Bad exclaimed and looked around desperately. "Where's the Nether Portal?"

"It's like a thousand blocks away! Here, put him on my back; we gotta move fast to get him through," Sapnap told them, getting to one knee. George and Bad quickly positioned the blonde on his back, letting Dream wrap limbs around him to hold on with a small whimper of pain. "Hang on, Dream; we're gonna get you help, okay?"

Pain kept crashing over him in waves as the group made their way back to the Nether Portal and Dream groaned at the feeling of his files being pulled apart and moved around, new ones settling into place and eating away at data. He'd seen the lines of script scrolling in a corner of his vision. He had to let his friends know what was happening.

This couldn't be happening…

"H-.. H-..," he struggled to say as George kept one hand on his back to hold him firmly against Sapnap and Bad moved around behind them to defend against potential attacks.

"Yeah, we're getting you help, Dream, just hang on," Sapnap told him between huffs for air as he ran on.

He cringed, grimacing as the viral code slithered through him, slowly making its way towards his Core File. He shuddered, whimpering as the ravenet shot him a concerned look over his shoulder. "Herobrine," he gasped out and George looked at him in alarm.

"Herobrine? He's gone, Dream; Sky Army destroyed Him," he said and Dream shook his head, gritting his teeth at the diamond blue lightning arcing over him. George frowned, taking in the energy and the color. "Bad! What color is this status effect?" he called out and the demonic Avatar ran up close to them to look them over.

"It's like a bright blue, like diamonds," he replied and suddenly paled as George and Sapnap looked at one another with horrified expressions. "Don't tell me.. _Dream_?! Are you infected with the Herobrine Virus?! Like Sky was?!"

Another groan as Dream nodded.

"What are we gonna do? If we can't figure something out, Dream's gonna turn into one of the Infected!" Bad blurted out, holding up his shield to block a skeleton's arrow as they trudged through Soul Soil. "Sky Army _memes_ Infected; we **can't** let them do that to him!"

" **How** could he get infected?! We _just_ got a refresh of immunity from the Artifacts in Sky Tower Alpha!" Sapnap yelled in frustration and George yelped.

"That's it! That's how we'll cure Dream!" he told them as Dream shut his eyes closed tighter and pressed his face against the ravenet's neck. "If just getting a bit of the aura from the Artifacts blocks the virus, then maybe it'll get cleaned out completely if they're actually worn? Since it's two anti-viruses against one virus!"

"That makes no sense but honk it, let's give it a try!" Sapnap decided as they left the Soul Sand Valley.

Dream whimpered again, shivering as what felt like ghostly fingers trailed across his shoulders, up the back of his neck and over his jaw. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes while more files were pulled apart, rewritten, script with his name been converted to Herobrine's.

 _"So you're the one who will let me rise again,"_ a dark voice murmured and it didn't seem like anyone else could hear it. _"Ah, Dream, I'm going to have **so much** **fun** with you..."_

His friends' words of comfort and encouragement couldn't chase away the dizziness and terror brought on by the unknown voice, and as Sapnap, George, and Bad hurried up to the Nether Portal that was left strangely unguarded, Dream let himself fall unconscious, memories scattering as still more files were consumed and converted...

_Continues in Chapter 1 of Herobrine's Return - Corruption of Minecraftia_

**Author's Note:**

> This short fic shows the events that led to Dream being made the new host for Herobrine as seen in the first chapter of 50 Prompts - Corruption of Minecraftia.
> 
> Find me brainrotting about stuff and RTing art and stories from other folks in the Dream and MCYT fandom on twitter at [@AvecPardon](https://twitter.com/AvecPardon)


End file.
